Prevalence of musculoskeletal disorder and work related associated factor among nurses of Allied and D.H.Q hospital, Faisalabad

Abstract

Nurses as compared to any other occupation have the highest intensity of work- related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSD’s), however, there were countless researches were done on the nurses worldwide but there is limited information on it prevalence in Faisalabad. This study sought to determine prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders and work related associated factors among nurses of Allied and D.H.Q hospital, Faisalabad.

Validated and Reliable Standardized Nordic Questionnaire was used to collect data from randomly 300 total forms were distributed among the nurses and 220 nurses returned the forms, within which only 100 complete forms were included in the study.

Mean age of respondents was (43.75). On analysis we found that Total 80% nurses have reported work related musculoskeletal pain and discomfort in their occupational life.  Highest recorded pain due to work related stresses and awkward postures was headache (64%), followed by lower back  pain  (47%), shoulder pain (42%), neck pain (39%), knee pain (32%), ankle/foot pain (20%), elbow pain (16%), upper back pain (13%), hip pain (12%), abdominal pain  (9%) and chest pain (7%). Association of pain was analyzed with age, workload and work experience of nurses, it was seen that age respond to WMSD’s.  Most of young nurses (up to 40) had low pain level, while majority of old aged (more than 50) suffered from moderate to severe pain (57.7%). Moreover, nurses with greater work experience had greater ratio of WMSD’s most of nurses (47.4%) who had low experience (up to 10) respondents never had pain problem, while majority of the respondents who had more than 20 years working experience had some level of pain. Even though, association between work load and WMSD’s pain also shows positive relationship.

It is evident that rate of WMSD’s among nurses is very common which is accountable for limitation in performance of their duty efficiently in routine Headache, lower back pain, shoulder pain, neck pain are the most effected body regions whereas knee pain, ankle/foot pain, elbow pain, upper back pain, hip pain, abdominal pain and chest pain are the least affected areas. Work load, job experience and age also contribute to the occurrence of WMSD’s.